Letters from the Herald's editor

The following excerpts from emails between Stephen Kimber and Dan Leger---the Chronicle Herald's director of news content---are about Kimber's "Victims of the Herald" story.

Hi Stephen,
I guess this is what happens when a person doesn't make time for a
sit-down interview with you, eh?

I've attached a rundown of basic journalistic errors and omissions
in your piece that appeared today in The Coast. I'd expect some of them
from a first-year student, but from such an eminent professor, it's
really disappointing. You didn't even spell Joel Jacobson's name right,
and it's printed in the paper four times a week.
---Dan

Hi Dan,
I've tried to deal with the individual points you raise below. As
you know, it's always more difficult to get a complete story when not
everyone will talk to you. That said, and acknowledging my dumb,
Journalism 101 mistake in the spelling of Joel's name, I stand by what
I wrote. ---Stephen

Hi Stephen,
I consider it unethical of you to suggest that the story's errors
and distortions are caused by the lack of an interview with me. You
don't get to make things up just because an interview can't be
scheduled according to your deadlines.

I also think you should also have declared a conflict over this
whole piece, as a long-time columnist for a rival newspaper that was
shut down and caused you a loss of earnings. Your coverage of the
Herald can't be considered impartial. ---Dan

Hi Dan,
I didn't "suggest that the story's errors and distortions are caused
by the lack of an interview with me." What I said was not being able to
question you as a representative of management made it "more difficult"
for me to get the complete story.

As for me needing to declare a conflict of interest: You were a
long-time CBC employee, so should the Herald acknowledge the
possibility of a conflict every time it publishes a story about the
CBC?

While I am indeed critical in the piece of how some Herald
management responded to the current crisis at the paper, I was also
publicly critical of certain actions of management at the Daily
News before---and after---its demise. ---Stephen

The list of Dan Leger's complaints

Statement from the story: Paying readers were cancelling
subscriptions, preferring to get their news faster and for "free"
online.
Response from Leger: Circulation is holding or rising. Our
audited circulation numbers have shown we are holding our own.
Kimber's reply: If you read this section again, you'll see
that I'm referring to newspapers generally rather than to the
Herald specifically. As you have acknowledged elsewhere, "free"
online content is one problem facing newspapers today.

Statement: Management also spent what the union suggested was
$7 million moving...into new and lavish leased digs.
Leger: The $7 million number is not even close to the real
cost. And lavish? Come on. You've never even been in the place.
Kimber: This could have been cleared up easily if the
Herald said how much the move cost. I did the best I could with
what I had: The union "suggested;" the company "refuses to say..."

Statement: Somehow, word of the union-management session
leaked to other media. Leger...openly accused business reporter Judy
Myrden...of being the source.
Leger: Please cite a source for this. I never discussed this
with Judy.
Kimber: I have several sources. I would have been happy to
include your denial if I'd had the opportunity to interview you.

Statement: Stewart became full-time...in part because
management forgot to let her go when her initial...contract
expired.
Leger: This is not only incorrect, it is a grievous insult to
Jennifer.
Kimber: The source of this "grievous insult" was Jennifer
Stewart herself.

Statement: the Herald's no-overtime policy.
Leger: There is no such thing as a no-overtime policy. People
work overtime almost every day. It must be approved by a senior
manager.
Kimber: I should have been more careful in my description
here. The story has specific examples of overtime "restrictions."

Statement: (On CBC TV Leger declared) the lost reporters mere
"bells and whistles."
Leger: Go review the tape, as any good journalist would. I
did not describe laid-off staffers as "mere bells and whistles."
Kimber: "Mere" was my word; it's not included in the quote.